Critical Reception
Chris Neal of Country Weekly believed "Picture to Burn", along with "Should've Said No", were the most immediately striking songs on Taylor Swift. Jack Lowe of About.com said the song was fun, and that females would specially enjoy it. Kate Kiefer of Paste magazine selected the track as one of Swift's six best singles, and stated, "She really shows her age in this one". Roger Holland of PopMatters commented that the song was the epitome of how, according to him, Swift was more given in uptempo tempos, and that it served as indication to the nature of Swift's debut album. Holland added, "'Picture to Burn' is two parts Ashlee Simpson to one part Amy Dalley, with an overly familiar guitar melody that could have been lifted directly from the latter." Top music critic Robert Christgau selected "Picture to Burn" as a highlight on Taylor Swift. Josh Love of The Village Voice attributed the song to be one of the reasons how the singer rose to stardom. He called it a "bluntly relatable composition that connected with teens from across the spectrum." Patrick McDonald of The Seattle Times called it a "clever, sassy, upbeat song" Alison Bonaguro of the Chicago Tribune said the song was a "clean-but-still-rowdy" number for Swift. Kevin Courtney of The Irish Times mentioned "Picture to Burn" among powerful revenge songs and noted the lyric "Go and tell your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy / That's fine / I'll tell mine you're gay." He supported the sentiment behind the song and wrote, "You go girl".
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